Category archives for Gear

More cameras have wi-fi these days to enable fast and seamless transfer of images to phone or computer, but not all of them, and not all ever will. The Canon 5D Mark iii, for example, is so weatherproofed that getting a signal through its body would be tricky. And while taking a memory card from…

In my book, the lighter one travels the better, and that extends to underwear. For the last decade or so, my go-to choice has been boxer-briefs from Ex Officio — just two pairs, no matter how long the trip — but a few months ago I came into possession of some boxers made by Saxx,…

Danner’s new/old Canoe Mocs are built on a shoe mold first developed in 1936, with an upper silhouette created in the 1970s, which come together in a hand-stitched shoe that’s spot-on for these retro/heritage/summer-camp times. The crepe rubber outsole guards against pavement or rocks or trail hazards (and sore feet of all kinds), and a removable…

The definition of “softshell” has always been fuzzy and ambiguous. And these days it means pretty much whatever a brand wants it to mean. If it’s a shell and it’s softish and it’s not full-on waterproof, it can be tossed in the giant box called softshell. With that kind of fluidity, we as buyers and…

Will GoPro ever be knocked from its perch at the top of the hands-free camera mountain? Challengers keep challenging, and the latest is TomTom — yes, the GPS maker — which thinks smart editing is the key The Bandit Action Camera attempts to solve one of the biggest hassles of shooting with POV cameras (or…

When you drive a 25-year-old Volkswagen van, you discover that the ways in which you can break down and become stranded are nearly endless. And this is only a joking matter when you’ve become de-stranded; when you’re still out there, stuck at the trailhead many miles from pavement, a cell signal, or good espresso, it’s…

“People will stare. Make it worth their while.” This quote seems very Oscar Wilde, but it’s attributed to author Harry Winston, who absolutely would have approved of the new women’s Sidney shades from Smith Optics. They’re seen here in the anything-but-wallflower “red tortoise,” the least-shy of Smith’s three color options. More than half of the…

Few items of gear have so positively changed my life as the Jetboil. Compact, lightweight, and extremely fast to boil water, this stove/cooking system simplified, lightened, and streamlined my backcountry chefery. Menus, never my forte, have been reduced to ready to eat and ready to boil, and I’m so much happier for it. I even…

Apple might have brought sophisticated yet streamlined design to the masses, but Crank Brothers brought it to the bike world. From pedals to wheels, the kids from Laguna Beach have established an ethos that’s fun, spirited, and fresh, yet still highly functional. This last quality is the most important, especially in a multi-tool, which might…

If you’ve shot video lately, it’s most likely been with a still camera that has video capabilities, or your phone. Even the venerable Canon 5D Mark II, which spawned the massive and very exciting world of DLSR filming, is primarily a still, not motion, camera. But the video-first device—we know it by that very 1980s…